Being kept so busy in the run up to my
stint as ‘Maker of the Month’ at Concrete Wardrobe, I realise I haven’t
introduced you to the new additions to Ziggy’s collection!
Elvis
So first of all, I’ll introduce you to
‘Elvis’, the 1950s chest of drawers!
I found him in his original state, at the
back of a second hand furniture depot. He was looking a bit dusty and had lost
one of his original handles but I could see his potential!
Inspired by The King, the blues and his
blue suede shoes, I decided to paint the body of the chest of drawers navy,
refinish the wood on the drawer faces and painting pretty original 50’s drawer
to match the inside of each drawer, with each being painted a different shade.
And it’s little mid-century legs were each painted a different colour too!
Harry
I spotted this telephone seat in the window
of a charity shop as I drove past on the bus. I gave the shop a call and got
them to reserve it for me straight away. I thought that with a splash of colour
and a new seat cover, it could be transformed into something pretty funky!
When I was getting to work, I discovered a
date stamp underneath the seat- 13th March 1979, meaning this is one
of the youngest pieces of furniture that I’ve worked on!
And it has it’s original, quirky, pullout
memory slide!
I went for blue colours to tie this in with
‘Elvis’ and I chose to reupholster the seat with white fluffy fabric. It’s the
same fabric I used on a 1970s ottoman called ‘Debbie’ from my first collection…
do you remember her?
She was named after Debbie Harry because of
her stiletto heels and peroxide top. And with the telephone seat’s fluffy top,
and the obvious references to telephones in Blondie’s big hits ‘Hanging on the
Telephone’ and ‘Call Me’, it seems fitting to name another piece after Debs, one
of my all time heroes!
Elton
And, for a bit of fun, here’s Elton!
My dad had an old wooden elephant sitting
by the side of his sofa, blending in with the décor and not getting much
attention and so he gave it to me, thinking it might be fun to Ziggify!
With him being ornamental, I decided to go
all out there with colour and pattern! I added polka dots, eye patches and
coloured in his tusks… he was largely inspired by Elephants in Indian Kerala culture, but
with his eccentric feel, it seemed apt to name him ‘Elton’ after Elton John!
Doris
I’ve been a bit negligent and forgot to
take a photo of this wee 1950s chair before I done it up! But it was looking a
bit scuffed up and was covered in a yellowing varnish, which I was itching to
sand off!
Colour blocked, with a little fluffy
pillow, its mid-century character has been brought to life. And being from the
50s and having a touch of glamour and pizzazz about her, I’ve called her
‘Doris’ after Doris Day!
